Building muscle isn’t just about looking good; it’s a cornerstone of health, boosting insulin sensitivity, lowering diabetes risk, and even improving cancer survival rates. But does effective muscle growth require the pain of post-workout soreness? This common belief may be misguided. At the cellular level, muscle fibers, including actin, myosin, and titan filaments, sustain damage from lifting heavy weights or engaging in unfamiliar exercises.
This damage triggers an inflammatory response, leading to the production of inflammatory markers. Histamines are then produced, causing swelling and inflammation, which, in turn, cause pain or soreness. To promote muscle growth, you need to introduce variety into your workouts, Rob Newton, a professor of exercise medicine at Edith Cowan University in Australia, told The Epoch Times during a video call.
If you maintain the same training regimen, your muscles adapt and no longer have a reason to change, he noted. For muscle growth, the volume load must increase, potentially causing DOMS. Both heavy and light loads can induce hypertrophy, with volume being the key factor, Newton said.
However, excessive DOMS can hinder subsequent workouts. Downstairs walking involves eccentric contractions, which lengthen the quadriceps. Daily activities and exercises typically include static (isometric), shortening (concentric), and lengthening (eccentric) muscle contractions.
The study found that downstairs walkers gained twice the strength of upsta.